


Saltwater and Kisses

by Livvy1800



Series: It's Complicated But That's The Way We Like It [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Angsty Schmoop, Beach Holidays, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes at the Beach, Darcy Lewis Feels, F/M, Okay a Little Bit of Angst Too, WinterShock - Freeform, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 16:32:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7113568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Livvy1800/pseuds/Livvy1800
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky and Darcy enjoy a beach vacation, and their time together. Shameless angsty schmoop...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saltwater and Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [msxylda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msxylda/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Bucky on the Beach](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7113037) by [msxylda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msxylda/pseuds/msxylda). 



Bucky rolled out of the hammock, heart pounding, and landed on the porch with a hard thud. He just laid there for a moment, blinking. The dream, bordering on nightmare, had left him disoriented. For a moment, he was back in the frigid wasteland of northern Siberia, looking over the side of a mountain at the burning wreck of a plane he'd shot down.

Then the warm breeze drifted over his skin, ruffling his hair, bringing with it the scent of saltwater and sand.

With a sigh of relief, he dropped his head back against the wooden boards and scrubbed one hand over his face. The nightmares were lessening, after four years being free of HYDRA's brainwashing, but they still happened. Sometimes he knew when they would come, like after a particularly bad mission with the team. But there were times they took him by surprise. Nothing about his time at the Maryland shore, spent crabbing and swimming and rubbing suntan lotion on his lover's back, should have prompted the memories to crop up again in his sleep.

But logic and his brain weren't always passing acquaintances.

"I would have thought the hammock would be more comfortable than the floor, but okay."

A body dropped down next to Bucky, cross-legged, making him turn his head with a smile. Dressed in a red bikini and a thigh length tank top, long, dark hair braided over one shoulder, Darcy smiled back at him. New freckles, brought on by four days playing in the sand and ocean, marched across her lightly burnt nose. He breathed in, the scent of sunscreen mixing with gardenias, setting off the low grade stirring of lust deep in his belly he always felt around her.

"Just getting a different perspective," he replied, then hauled himself up to lean against the house, pressing his bare shoulder to hers. Silently, she passed him her sweating glass of iced sweet tea. He gulped it down gratefully, wetting a throat parched from the fading inner turmoil. Just being around her calmed him, helped him "find his center", as Dr. Banner would say.

Maybe not the best thing, attaching his emotional stability to her presence, but it was what it was. He was learning to accept things that were out of his control. And falling in love with Darcy had been so far beyond his control, it was crazy. She had hit him like Thor's hammer, he hadn't seen that coming at all, and he'd enjoyed every minute of it.

Bucky set down the empty glass and stretched his legs out, slinging one arm over her shoulders. He traced fingers over the silky skin of her upper arm, enjoying the slight shiver he drew out of her.

"Wanna do a crab boil for dinner?"

She made an embarrassed face, entangling one foot with his. "Would you make fun of me if I said I just wanted a fat, juicy cheeseburger? I think I'm seafooded out right now."

"Yup. But I'll sacrifice and eat a double bacon cheeseburger for you, doll." He laughed when she poked him in the side, and gently batted away her hand, taking care not to use too much force. She was so breakable, compared to his serum-jacked strength. It hit him sometimes how fleeting their time together might be, considering his age resistant, nearly impossible to kill body, courtesy of HYDRA. Who knew how long they had? It made it easier for him to throw himself into every moment, storing it all away for the time when he'd be alone again.

If he was lucky, he'd go down on a mission, secure in the knowledge she was home and safe.

This wasn't a train of thought conducive to a beach vacation, though.

Shoving the maudlin feeling away, Bucky jumped to his feet, hauling her up in his arms. Darcy let out a small shriek, gripping his shoulders tight as her legs dangled over one of his arms, the other secure behind her back.

"But first—" He waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner, rubbing one thumb over the soft skin above her knee. "—we need to work up an appetite."

"Oh really?" she asked archly, a flirtatious smile curving her lips upward. It was a struggle not to let his eyes drop to the abundant cleavage now on display just inches from his mouth. Christ, she did things to him. "Do you have any suggestions on how to do that, Sarge?"

"As it just so happens, I do."

Her brow furrowed as he hopped off the porch and strode over the dunes that separated the beach house from the water.

"Umm, Buckster, as romantic as sex on the beach is, there's still plenty of small children running around at three o'clock in the afternoon. Can't be scarring the littles for life, dude."

He just grinned down at her and tightened his grip. She was as fun to mess with as Steve, although he'd never had to sleep with one eye open after pranking his childhood buddy. He had to admire her absolute commitment to salt-the-earth revenge. Even if he had left the showers with blue hair more than once.

Darcy's eyes widened as they approached the water, her gorgeous mouth falling open.

"You wouldn't!" She started to struggle, wiggling around, kicking her legs out.

"Exercise is good for burning energy. Swimming is good exercise." A buoyed feeling banished the last of the tightness in his chest, leftover from his nightmare, as she began to giggle helplessly when he waded into the waves. Cold water swirled around his calves, then his waist, but it felt nice. Fresh. Clean. Not like the cold of cryo.

"You brat, I was hoping for something more... naked!" She scrabbled for purchase, fingers digging into the muscle of his shoulders, her brilliant green eyes laughing up at his.

Small fish bumped his legs as he held her over the water, the tide pushing and pulling, salt spray dampening them both immediately.

"My favorite form of exercise, with you. We can definitely do that..." Bucky lowered her, drawing her close against his chest. Her gaze went to his lips as she slid one hand behind his neck, fingers slipping into his shoulder length hair. Her eyes darkened with need as he lowered his mouth to hers.

She tasted like sunshine, sugared tea, and salt water.

She tasted like freedom. Love, lust, and everything in between.

He deepened the kiss until her body was pliant in his arms as she made little humming noises against his lips, and he was grateful for the cold water lapping at his belly. There was never going to be a time he wouldn't want her.

Pulling away reluctantly, not wanting to give the families on the beach any more of a show than he already had, Bucky looked down. There was a dreamy smile on Darcy's face, eyes half closed in pleasure, one hand lazily smoothing over his bare chest.

She made him so goddamn happy.

Placing a affectionate peck on the tip of her nose, Bucky continued his interrupted thought, "...but first, I have something I've been wanting to do all morning."

With a smug smile, he tossed her into the waves, enjoying the flail of pale limbs and scream of outraged laughter. He was going to pay for that later, but what a way to go.

 

 


End file.
